Phone hacking saga: 3 men cuffed over alleged plod bungs

Three men were cuffed early this morning by Scotland Yard officers probing alleged inappropriate payments to cops and public officials. The investigation is related to the ongoing high-profile phone hacking inquiry.

The suspects, each manacled at separate addresses, were taken to three different cop shops in the south east of England for questioning, the Met said.

A 39-year-old man, who is a journalist, was arrested at his home in Hertfordshire on suspicion of conspiracy to corrupt and conspiracy to cause misconduct in a public office. He is being held in a north London police station.

Two serving police officers at Scotland Yard were also nicked this morning as part of the Operation Elveden probe into alleged bribes to public officials.

A 47-year-old bloke, who works at the Met Police specialist operations command, will be quizzed at a Surrey cop shop over suspected misconduct in a public office and corruption claims.

And a 30-year-old specialist crime and ops command police officer for the Met is being interviewed regarding the same allegations at a south London station.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, which owns News International - the British newspaper publisher whose Sunday tabloid News of the World was shuttered in July 2011 after the phone-hacking scandal erupted - assisted the Yard by handing over information to the Met that led to today's arrests.

This morning's bust, which relate to unspecified events between 2004 and 2011, bring the total number of Op Elveden arrests to 56 so far. ®